Hawaii must provide free educational services to more than 1,000 young adults with disabilities who aged out of the state’s system.
The ruling, from U.S. District Chief Judge Susan Oki Mollway, stems from a 2013 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Hawaii, which has a single school district serving the entire state, enacted a regulation in 2010 barring both general education students and students in special education from attending public school past the age of 20.
The plaintiffs argued successfully that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act allows students with disabilities to stay in school through age 21.
